Freshwater in Canada: How Much Freshwater Does Canada Have?

Freshwater in Canada: How Much Freshwater Does Canada Have?

RECENT POSTS

Freshwater in Canada Facts and Statistics

Key Takeaways

  • Canada has an abundance of freshwater, with about 20% of the world’s total freshwater resources and roughly 7% of global renewable freshwater supply.
  • Freshwater shapes Canada’s geography, with over 2 million lakes, countless rivers and creeks, and nearly 9% of the country’s surface area covered by water.
  • Canada’s water resources are essential for everyday life, electricity generation, and the economy, and are managed through conservation, collaboration, and long-term stewardship.

Water is a valuable and necessary resource for all living things. And we Canadians are lucky to have heaps of it – about 7 per cent of the world’s “renewable” freshwater supply, with just half a per cent of the global population.

With more than two million lakes and countless rivers, nearly 9 per cent of Canada’s total land surface area is covered by freshwater. The Great Lakes, for example, cover more than 243,000 square kilometres (km2), hold an estimated 6 quadrillion (or 6,000,000,000,000,000) gallons of water – about one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water supply [1] – and are some of the largest lakes in the world.

But wait, there’s more; with so much freshwater in Canada, we’re just getting started! Below, we review several more fun facts on Canada’s freshwater resources and how our country manages this precious resource.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Canada’s Freshwater: Visualized

Map: Chris Brackley / Canadian Geographic

As seen above, Canada's vast landscapes are covered with millions of lakes, rivers and streams. From the deep north to the Great Lakes, freshwater is found from coast-to-coast-to-coast, underpinning Canada's vast hydropower generation capacity, which accounts for 60 percent of electricity generation in the country.

Canada’s Largest Lakes

Canada is also home to more than 31,000 lakes larger than three km2 in area. Canada's largest lakes, by surface area include [6]:

Rank Lake Area (km²)
1 Lake Huron, ON (Canadian portion) 38,300
2 Great Bear Lake, NT 31,400
3 Lake Superior, ON (Canadian portion) 29,800
4 Great Slave Lake, NT 28,500
5 Lake Winnipeg, MB 24,200
6 Lake Erie, ON (Canadian portion) 12,800
7 Lake Ontario, ON (Canadian portion) 10,200
8 Lake Athabasca, SK 7,800
9 Reindeer Lake, SK/MB 6,800
10 Smallwood Reservoir, NL 6,700
11 Nettilling Lake, NU 5,800
12 Lake Winnipegosis, MB 5,400
13 Lake Nipigon, ON 4,900
14 Dubawnt, NT 3,800
15 Lake of the Woods, ON/MB (Canadian portion) 3,300
16 Amadjuak Lake, NU 3,200
17 Lake Melville, NL 3,200

Canada’s Largest Rivers

You’ll also find a tremendous number of rivers across Canada, many of which are hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres long. The longest rivers in Canada, by length, include [8]:

Rank River Length (km)
1 Mackenzie River 4,240
2 St. Lawrence River 3,060
3 Nelson River 2,580
4 Churchill (Sask.) River 1,610
5 Peace River 1,540
6 Fraser River 1,370
7 North Saskatchewan River 1,290
8 Ottawa River 1,270
9 Athabasca River 1,230
10 Yukon River 1,150
11 Liard River 1,120
12 Assiniboine River 1,070
13 Severn River 980
14 Albany River 980

Canada’s Freshwater: Surface Area

About 9 per cent of Canada’s land surface area is covered with freshwater. Now that is a lot of H2O! Let’s put that sizeable area into context:

  • At 9.985 million km2 (Canada’s total surface area), 9 per cent would equate to 898,650 square kilometres (km2), which equals 898,650,000,000 square metres (m2)
  • A Canadian Football League (CFL) field is 8,152 square metres (m2) in size; therefore, it would take approximately 110,236,752 CFL fields to cover Canada’s freshwater surface area.
  • It would take about 159 Prince Edward Islands (at 5,660 km2) or about 2.2 Newfoundland and Labradors (at 405,212 km2) to do the same.

If you were to consider the depth of these freshwater bodies and convert them to volume, Canada's sheer amount of fresh water is unfathomable, to be frank!

Canada's Freshwater: Volume

Canadian freshwater facts - canada has 9 percent of its land area covered by freshwater

Canada is home to about 20 per cent of the world’s total freshwater resources [7]. However, only 7 per cent of Canada’s total reserves are deemed to be “renewable.”

Canada’s fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, snow, ice, and groundwater. Every year, about 7 per cent of the world’s renewable freshwater supply is discharged by rivers in Canada, [8] approximately 60 per cent of which drains northward.

Non-Renewable Freshwater in Canada

Most of Canada’s freshwater resources contain fossil water found in non-renewables such as glaciers, underground aquifers, and some lakes. But Canada is still in the top three regarding water yield rates annually.

Water yield is largely from melted ice and precipitation that flows above/below ground, gradually reaching bodies of water such as lakes and rivers. In Canada, water yield peaks in the springtime as rain increases and snow and ice melt.

Canada's Water Yield

Canadian freshwater facts - there are 2 million lakes across Canada

Every year, Canada’s average water yield is estimated at 3,472 billion cubic metres [5]. This is almost the same volume of water found in Lake Huron – one of the Great Lakes – giving Canada the world’s third-largest renewable freshwater supply behind Brazil (1st) and Russia (2nd) [5].

On a per capita basis, Canada beats both countries, however, with approximately 109,850 cubic metres of renewable freshwater per person. Now that is amazing!

How Does Canada Manage its Water Resources?

Here are three examples of many methods used by Canadian governments to manage freshwater in the country:

1. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM): Canadian governments use the IWRM framework to manage their water resources efficiently, as it involves collaboration among various stakeholders and sectors to make informed decisions. The approach balances the social, economic, and ... other aspects of water management to ensure proper use and conservation of Canadian freshwater resources [2].

2. Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs): Canadian governments promote the adoption of BMPs in the agricultural sector to safeguard water quality. These practices focus on reducing agricultural pollution, soil erosion and nutrient runoff, protecting and preserving freshwater resources [3].

3. Indigenous Research and Water Governance: Canadian governments increasingly recognize and incorporate Indigenous research and knowledge into water governance approaches. This shift ensures the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in water resource management policies, respecting Indigenous rights and treaties [4].

These approaches contribute to the proper management of Canada's water resources by promoting collaboration, agricultural practices, and the inclusion of diverse perspectives in decision-making processes.

Join Us Today!

Canadian freshwater facts - canada has 32,000 lakes larger than three square kilometres

Learn more about Canada’s natural resources through balanced, non-partisan and honest discussions by joining us and hundreds of thousands of other Canadians on social media today!

SOURCES:

1. https://www.glc.org/lakes/

2. https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/water-overview/joint-initiatives/integrated-resource.html

3. https://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/agriculture-and-climate/adapting-to-climate-change/best-management-practices-for-canadian-water-quality/?id=1541695890031

4. http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol12/v12issue1/466-a12-1-8/file

5. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-402-x/2011000/chap/env/env-eng.html

6. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/largest-lakes-in-canada

7 - https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/environmental-indicators/water-use.html

8 - https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/water-overview/publications/water-in-canada.html